Recommended Song For Book:
"Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey
Translation For Book:
Amico = Friend in Italian
"Love can come in many shapes and conflicting desires."
--- Michael Faudet
Chapter 2
James De Luca's POV
"Hello. I am Victoria and I will be your waitress. Now, may I take your order?" The young woman, wearing a black skirt and a purple blouse with a white nametag, asked. Her bright smile flashed at me causing me to smile back.
"It's nice to see you again, Victoria. You're looking lovely as always." Samuel smiled at the waitress.
"Samuel, you were just here yesterday and the day before that. I'm starting to think you have a coffee addiction or you're just coming here to see me."
Samuel looked down, trying to hide his red cheeks. He cleared his throat and smiled at her. "We'll take two iced espressos to go, please."
Victoria wrote down the order on her notepad and gave us a warm smile. "Coming right up, boys." She turned around and walked in the direction of the kitchen.
I watched Samuel stare affectionately at the waitress' retreating figure with a soft smile on his face.
"Bye, Victoria." I heard him mumble.
I was amused at his shy behavior, my eyebrows rose at his actions. I was on the phone, talking with my Vice President about the interviews taking place later today.
But I had enough with Samuel not being able to tell Victoria that he was madly in love with her. I turned off my phone and faced him. "Amico (translation: Friend in Italian), you have a little drool on your chin." I motioned to his chin and laughed.
Samuel glared at me and slapped my hand away from his face. "Shut up! You know I like her and I'm very serious about her."
"Then why haven't you asked her out? She clearly likes you, Samuel. You need to do something about it instead of coming here almost everyday to see her." I leaned back on the seat of the booth and smirked.
"Victoria does not like me like I love her and she's different from other women. No woman has ever made me feel like she does and I care about her." Samuel's cheeks reddened as he said the last part.
"That's even more of a reason to ask her out. You need to face your fear and ask her out on a date. Or someone could beat you to it."
His face became pale as he registered what I was saying was true. "I'm just afraid she'll reject me or realize she could find someone better."
I gave him a sympathetic smile and he just shook his head, looking out the window.
Samuel Costa, who was more than just a Chief Marketing Officer and my best friend, drove my red Mustang this morning to my favorite cafe, "La Luna." I had a hangover. I drank way too much last night. I had gone to a party with Samuel and a few other friends to celebrate a recent company deal. The club was filled with gorgeous women and luxurious drinks. It was wild! That was until my current girlfriend, Jennifer Andrews decided to show up and ruin the celebration. Long story short, her and I got into a fight over me recently not being able to spend time with her.
But I couldn't control the amount of free time I had and nor did I want to. I would never risk my company's name for an easily replaceable woman because the only reason I kept her around was because she was marvelous in bed and she was the daughter of one my father's oldest friends, Maxwell Andrews. But eventually I would have to find a way to gently break up with her and crush her heart like the others so I could still keep my relationship with her father intact.
"Here are your espressos, gentlemen. Anything else I can get for you?" Victoria's voice brought me out of my thoughts.
"No thank you. We were just leaving, but Samuel has something to ask you." I leave a twenty-dollar bill on the table while picking up my coffee and turn to see Samuel glaring at me.
I replied with a smirk and motion for him to speak. "Um... I only wanted to say that you look very beautiful and thank you for the coffee." Samuel face reddens, holding up his coffee.
"Thank you, Samuel. You look very handsome as well. I uh...have to get back to work so I'll see you later." She blushed and moved a strand of her hair behind her ear before retreating back to the kitchen. As soon as she was out of sight, Samuel punched me in the shoulder.
"Don't ever do that again and to the office?" Samuel questioned, walking to my car.
"Yes." I chuckled at his anger, taking a sip of my espresso as I got into the car.
The iced espresso was delicious. It still had that great sweetness and refreshing taste after all these years. I leaned back on to the passenger's seat feeling pleased with the satisfying taste.
"La Luna" cafe was one of the many places I visited as a child. I remember begging my mother to take me there on the weekends with my younger brother, Adrian. I would always order the same drink, a hot chocolate. I soon became close with the owner, Gabriel Gonzalez, and now helped manage his small cafe because of his sudden illness.
But today, Samuel and I had been driving past the cafe when I had a sudden urge for an iced espresso and Samuel had no problem with seeing his crush. I closed my eyes as I felt a strong headache come on.
"Are you okay, James?"
"Yes. It's just my damn hangover." I opened my eyes, taking a sip of my coffee. I noticed Samuel smirk from the corner of my eye and I rolled my eyes. I bet he enjoyed seeing me in pain since I tried to interfere in his love life.
Samuel was in his late twenties and the head of my marketing team. But he was more than just an employee. Samuel's family had known and gone to school with my family for years. We often hung out as kids when his parents would come visit my family, leading us to later become best friends. But we treated each other more like brothers than best friends.
Aside from my younger brother, Adrian, Samuel was someone who I trusted and confided in. He was one of the few people that knew the real me. I was his first friend and the first person to know that he was being bullied in the fourth grade. The other kids bullied him for liking reading instead of playing sports.
I would often see him crying under a tree after school or during recess. He was miserable and I would sometimes hear my mom talking to his mom about him not wanting to go to school. I even saw him throw away his favorite book once.
But one Monday morning, I had enough and stood up for Samuel. Marcus, the main bully, tried to attack Samuel but I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and punched him straight in the nose. The punch was so strong that he fell back and when Marcus tried to punch me back, I punched him in the stomach. His nose was bleeding and his face was bloody. I got detention but Marcus never bothered Sam ever since. Everyone grew scared of me except Samuel. They were all afraid of making me angry. But I never got in trouble for defending Samuel because he had explained to the principal, who loved him, that Marcus had been bullying him.
When we became teenagers, Samuel was there for me during my rebellious stage where I wanted to become independent. He saw me getting super drunk at parties, getting into trouble, or doing things I regretted in the next morning. He even saw me at my most vulnerable times. He knew every time I was in trouble and always helped me get out of it.
As I grew older, my behavior started to change and I realized I had more responsibility than I had imagined. When I turned sixteen, my father began to teach me about the family business and would often take me to work with him. But I understood why I was introduced to the business world at such a young age. My family expected a lot from me and I knew that I would some day need to take the place of my father as the CEO of De Luca Worldwide.
Ever since I was born, my parents modeled me to become a great man like my father because I someday would takeover the De Luca fortune. I attended the most prestigious private schools and had the finest tutors in academics that money could buy. Apart from English, I learned to speak Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Mandarin Chinese.
I graduated in Business Administration at Yale University four years ago, at the age of 23 and ever since then, I have been devoting my time into operating the family business. I knew my employees were afraid of me because of the power I held over them. But I expected them to be the ultimate definition of perfection, to be professional, proficient, competent, and organized.
They didn't understand that this was a way of protection against the company's competitors. They didn't understand that the business world was filled with competitions.
The company had many enemies and jealous competitors that would love to take down our empire. They would do anything to see our company fall. But I would NEVER let that happen. The whole De Luca family depended on me for the success and rise of our company. If the company was brought to it's fall then the De Luca name would fall and many employees would be left without jobs causing their families to suffer.
I took a sip of my espresso as we arrived at the office building, immediately greeted by security guards at the door. I nodded at them and walked away directly to the lobby, where the elevators were. Many of my employees were there, waiting patiently for the elevators. But the moment I stepped into the building, the whole lobby became silent. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and turned their attention on me.
Their eyes stared at me as if to see what I would do next. I could see the fear and concern on their faces. "Good morning." I smiled and gripped my espresso cup. I heard many people let out a breath of air that they seemed to have been holding and saw many surprised expressions.
"Good Morning Mr. De Luca."
"I hope you have a great day, sir."
"Buongirono Signore."
I nodded at their polite greetings and went to the elevators. I usually ignore the scared everyday looks and stares given to me. But today I felt good and I haven't felt good since... I shook my head at the thought and stepped out of the elevator. I walked towards my office with Samuel close behind me.
"James, I need to get back to my office and finish some paperwork for our big presentation tomorrow. I'll see you later." Samuel left in the other direction to his office. I waved him off and kept walking when I collided into someone.
"What the Hell!" My leftover coffee spilled all over my brand new blue Armani dress shirt.
"Woah!" I looked down expecting to see a middle aged woman but it was not. There was a young woman standing there, maybe about... twenty years old? She stood there: tall, strikingly beautiful with a slim, hourglass shaped figure.
Her eyes were a captivating, light emerald green. A piercing green that you almost never saw. Her hair was long and straight with a light copper-ish brown color. She reminded me of an angel. A few seconds later, I got out of my trance, coming back to the present and my new now ruined shirt.
"Damn it. Watch where you're going!" I yelled, pointing at my shirt. "You made me spill my coffee!"
I noticed her eyes darken and her face turned bright red with her nose scrunching up in the process before turning to look at me. "Excuse me, correct me if I'm wrong but you were the one that bumped into me and caused your coffee to spill all over your shirt!" She screamed at me, picking up and handing me my files.
My eyes softened as I met her soft emerald eyes. My heart speed up and my body tensed up under her piercing stare. I suddenly felt the urge to kiss her and make her mine. But I stopped myself and cleared my throat before taking the files out of her hands before walking away in the direction of my office.
I couldn't stop picturing her beautifully innocent face and those mesmerizing emerald green eyes...'Focus! Focus, James,' I think to myself. I couldn't let my guard down especially with a woman ever again. I would never make that mistake twice.
I stepped into my office and pulled out another dress shirt from my back closet. I luckily had my dry cleaning dropped off in my office this morning. I quickly put on the new shirt and a little cologne to take care of the coffee smell before grabbing the two files of the first two women for the position as my personal assistant.
The first file was for a woman named "Britney Flint." I browsed through her file and background check before deciding that I wanted to meet her. She had great reviews from her recent boss but the experience she held didn't add up.
I picked up the phone and told my secretary, Sally, to call Britney Flint into my office for the interview. I waited a few second before hearing someone knock at my door.
"Come in, Miss Flint," I called out, closing the file and setting my hands on my lap. A woman who wore a red skintight dress with a plunging neckline and a very bright red lipstick, walked into my office.
I motioned for her to sit down before beginning the interview. "Miss Flint, I am aware that you have worked as a past personal assistant for a criminal lawyer. Is that true?"
"Yes." Britney answered, batting her fake eyelashes at me. I grimaced at this but continued on with the interview.
"Miss Flint, it comes to my attention that you have great reviews but your experience as a personal assistant is very low. Care to explain?" I ask her, watching as a smirk slowly appeared on her face.
"Actually Mr. De Luca, I am very experienced." She rose from her and walked around my desk, trying to be seductive. "I can do it all. From filing to so much more...," Britney trailed off, sending me a wink and placing her hand on my thigh.
I smirk at her attempt to be seductive and flirty. I have dated many women and she has to be one of the fakest. I see Britney lean in and I guess she perceived my smirk as something else.
I grabbed her wrist roughly and stood up, towering over her. "Miss Flint, what I need is a personal assistant. What I don't need is some gold digger coming in here, trying to play personal assistant. I could only imagine the things you did to get the good reviews from your past bosses."
"I am not a gold digger and I did plenty to get those good reviews!"
I chuckled and walked her to the door by her wrist, grabbing her black purse along the way. "Well you dress like a whore and come in here, trying to offer yourself to me," I said, releasing her wrist harshly. "Miss Flint, I would say it was nice meeting you but then I would be lying."
She gasped and took her purse from my hands before stomping out of my office. 'Please let the next one is at least decent.' I pray to myself as I walk back to my desk.
I open the second file of a girl named "Allison Green." I briefly look through her file to find that she has no experience at all as a personal assistant but has received some great reviews from her past jobs, one of them being a secretary at a small business.
"Sally, bring in the next woman in. Her name is Allison Green." I hung up the phone and continued to look through her file while I waited. Her review was impeccable and was described as "very intelligent and organized." She had never been late once.
One minute passed until I heard a gentle knock at the door. "Come in!" I closed the file and set it aside. The door opened to reveal a very familiar woman.
I smirked and leaned back in my chair as I noticed a look of fear cross her eyes. "Well, if it isn't Miss coffee spiller."
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Editor: bilautaaxoxo
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